THE earliest record of ancient Chinese women's underwear dates back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220).

Women's bras were originally called xieyi (undignified and slutty clothes), which reveals the attitudes of ancient people to them.

Modern people may be more familiar with bras in use during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), which were by that time called dudou.

They consisted of pieces of diamond-shaped cloth which tied around both the neck and the waist. The straps around the neck were usually silk, although rich families sometimes used gold, silver or bronze chains.

Dudou have appeared in many movies and plays, to such an extent that they now dominate the image of ancient bras in people's minds. These type of items have even come back into vogue recently and become vanguard garments. Women today wear the thin silk dudou exposed, whereas in the old days they were worn under layers of clothes and only seen by the most intimate companions.

The bras used in each dynasty had their own special features.

Restraint cover

Ancient bras were closer to suspender shirts or slip dresses, designed to cover the breasts and the belly.

The shape and size of the bras were specially tailored to accommodate the different styles of clothing in varied eras. People of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) were the most open-minded, with women at that time being fond of low-cut and backless dresses with gauze tippets. The ideal of Tang beauty was a plump woman with a round face, and their bras were called hezi, actually long dresses worn as outer-garments. Women tied a broad thread from the hezi under their breasts to raise them and make them look firm.

The Tang was the only dynasty to favour strapless bras, with poets dedicating many lines to describing the half-exposed breasts as soft and white as snow.

In the following dynasty, the Song (960-1279), the standard of women's beauty was mostly based on the image of Kwan-yin (Mother Buddha).

Men thought a pretty woman should have a small waist, tiny feet that were usually called sancun jinlian (lotus-like feet, only about 10 centimetre long) and small breasts.

Women had to undergo considerable suffering to meet these standards. From a young age they had to use long pieces of cloth to wrap their feet tightly, layer by layer, to constrain their growth.

When their breasts began to develop, they wrapped them in the same way.

Women that had slim and ailing figures were considered fragile, encouraging protective feelings among the men who courted them.

The shape of bras in this period was similar to the dudou of the Qing Dynasty, although it was made of a rectangular piece of cloth, rather than a diamond shape.

Propitious patterns

Ancient bras were mainly made of red silk, with poor people wearing plain cotton ones. Women from wealthy families often had exquisite patterns embroidered on their underclothes.

Different patterns were thought to offer special blessings for people who wore them.

The word for a bat has the same pronunciation in Chinese as the word for happiness, fu, while a peach represented long life. These two objects were regularly embroidered on bras, indicating that the owner would lead a long and happy life.

Another popular image was that of a guava - which has numerous seeds inside - expressing the wearer's desire to have many children, which was traditionally considered the most important purpose and source of satisfaction for any woman.

Along with such images bearing blessings and hopes, Chinese characters were also often woven into the clothing to guide women's behaviors.

For instance, the characters ru song zhi zhen (song means pine, which Chinese think symbolizes firm determination), exhorted women to guard their chastity and sexual fidelity to their husbands. This too is a traditional value of womanly virtue, with a long life China, as in so many other cultures.

Towards the end of the Qing Dynasty, men began to appreciate healthy women with firm breasts and normal feet again.

During the 1920s and '30s, bras took a form similar to a vest with buttons in the middle Subsequently, they were influenced by Western styles, evolving into the modern bra.